Metropolitan Lullaby
by boysloveboys
Summary: Follow-up to In Time. On a sticky-hot summer night, Ciel seeks out his faithful butler to help him sleep.


_**AN:**__ Another modern-day continuation of Ciel and Sebastian's shared story, this one a slight bit more romantic. Enjoy. n__n  
A follow-up sequel of sorts to _In Time_.  
_

* * *

Ciel couldn't sleep.

It was a hot summer night, the sort he just wasn't used to in England. The air was thick and moist, and coupled with the herd of large, smoke-violet clouds drifting ominously outside his open bedroom window, signaled the beginnings of a thunderstorm. His permanently unmatching eyes watched every cloud pass, substituting them for sleep-inducing sheep. It didn't work.

Two hours after he had gone to bed, he was still alert, beads of sweat uncomfortably perched on the delicate tip of his nose and just above his lip. His night clothes—effectively, one of Sebastian's old shirts, two or three sizes too large for Ciel's small body—were damp, sticking to his skin and enhancing the prickling feeling of heat.

He groaned and writhed across the sheets, desperately trying to get comfortable. It didn't help that having the window open only let in all the nightly sounds. In a city such as this, activity didn't stop once the sun set; many times, it only increased. Cars whizzed past on the main thoroughfare just outside the townhouse complex, horns blaring every now and then as some no doubt tipsy driver pissed off someone else on the road. Police sirens wailed in the distance, gradually becoming louder before tapering off into the night. Voices from the neighboring couple on their front doorstep rose to Ciel's ears, and he listened to them talk about their son's poor grades. Even worse, loud, bass-heavy music from a house party two buildings away throbbed in Ciel's heat-exhausted brain; it was two hours too late for their music to be so loud, and Ciel found himself wishing he still had the authority to do something about it.

Ciel's tongue moved, about to form a very familiar sound. But he stopped before he could whisper the name, and sat up instead. Sebastian's thin shirt slumped down over one pale shoulder, while the rest clung awkwardly to his small frame, pasted there with sweat. Grimacing, he stood, his tiny bare feet moving him toward the bedroom door.

Out in the dark hallway, it was marginally quieter. The walls vibrated just the slightest from the party music, but the pictures hanging upon them, perfectly placed by expert hands, were still. Ciel paid them no mind as he walked across the warm hardwood flooring, fingers brushing over the banister that overlooked the stairs leading to the first story. He stood before the closed door at the other end of the hallway, and without knocking, opened it.

It gave way without noise, and Ciel stepped inside, closing it gently to avoid making a sound. Not that it mattered—the only other person in the house already knew he was coming.

"Young master."

Ciel peered into the dark to find the source of the voice, staring back at him from the bed that stood on the opposite end of the room. Sebastian sat upright, fully awake, and quite curious as to what Ciel was doing in his room. The corner of his mouth perked at the boy's sleepy appearance. His hair was messy and an old buttoned shirt Sebastian recognized well hung down from Ciel's shoulders, far too large, but perhaps a bit too short when it came to the bottom. Ciel's slender legs were bare from mid-thigh down to his little feet, light-colored skin easy to see even in the shadows.

Sebastian's room was smaller than Ciel's, so it didn't take the boy very long to reach the bed. When he did, he simply climbed up without a word and crawled over the clean white sheets to where Sebastian sat, propped up against the pillows. A book lay facedown on the nightstand beside the bed, a stainless steel bookmark in the shape of a slender Egyptian cat resting unused next to it. Ciel wondered why the light was out if Sebastian had been reading, but he didn't dwell on it; Sebastian was such an enigma most times.

"It's too hot to sleep," Ciel finally complained, wiping the back of one hand against his damp face for emphasis. "Why couldn't we pick a colder city to go to this time?"

"Well, it _is_ summer," Sebastian began in reply, but Ciel cut him off with a flood of more complaints.

"And the people next door never shut up about their stupid kid. Every night, it's like, 'Jonathan won't graduate,' blah blah _blah_. Then there're the college kids down the way with their obnoxious music and their parties every single weekend! I just wish they'd—"

"Do you hear them now?" Sebastian interrupted gently. He leaned in close, eyes pointed upwards as if he could make out the waves of sound in the air with just his vision.

"…N-no," Ciel replied awkwardly, head perked as he listened for the noises that kept him awake in his own room. None were present; everything in here was quiet. The only noises were the sound of the sheets as Ciel shifted his weight on the bed, and Sebastian's calm breaths beside him.

"Is it too hot in here?" Sebastian pressed on, the touch of his breath caressing Ciel's cheek.

"No, I suppose not," Ciel answered.

In fact, the air was much cooler here, and even the sheets were crisp, cold euphoria against his fevered skin. How Sebastian had managed to keep the room this comfortable was beyond Ciel, who'd been burning up every night no matter what he tried to keep his room cool. Open windows at night, closed windows in the day, or closed windows all night and day, or the numerous other things he'd experimented with, all seemed to have had no effect.

"Then sleep, my lord," Sebastian said. His hushed, hypnotic voice coaxed the boy to lie back, and he raised the sheets over his body rather than directly touching him.

Ciel took the cue, settling down on his back and sinking into the pillows. The mattress was firm—a little too firm—but this was still far better than his own noisy, burning-hot bedroom. Sebastian let the sheets settle over Ciel before smoothing them down. Ciel closed his eyes as Sebastian's hands moved over his chest, the warmth of his skin still present even through the sheets and the shirt. It was comforting, and he let out a soft sigh of contentment.

Eyes closed, he could simply feel it as Sebastian moved away to the other side of the bed, sitting perfectly still rather than sleeping. He didn't need to do so, from everything Ciel had observed, though he sometimes did. Despite the comfort Ciel gained from just having Sebastian nearby when he slept, right now, the feeling of Sebastian just _sitting there_ was only keeping Ciel awake.

"Sebastian?"

"Yes?"

Ciel's eyes popped open and he rolled onto one side, facing the black-haired butler, who was still wearing the clothes he'd been wearing in the daytime. Ciel looked him over before hesitantly reaching his hand over the gap between them. Sebastian's wine-drop eyes stared at that small hand sitting atop the sheets before following the slim line of Ciel's arm up to his shoulder and then finally, to the feminine face staring back at him. The pink lips upon it parted.

"Come here," Ciel commanded.

Sebastian didn't ask why, but did as Ciel said, scooting to the side. Ciel lifted his hand away so Sebastian could sit in that spot. Once the tall man had settled there, Ciel promptly draped his arm across Sebastian's lap.

"Young mast—"

"Shut up," Ciel hissed, glaring towards the slatted blinds over the window. There was no maliciousness in his voice, only a flush of muted red in his cheeks. "Just lie down with me."

"Yes, my lord."

Sebastian reclined back until he was lying upright, and his slightly surprised eyes peered up at the smooth ceiling above. Ciel moved closer without much hesitation, lifting his arm up over Sebastian's chest and resting it comfortably there, where Sebastian's even breathing moved it gently up and down. Ciel's small body pressed against Sebastian's side, and it was then that the butler finally looked down at the boy.

Ciel looked back at him, blinking a bit before closing his eyes once more, and he rested his cheek against Sebastian's solid shoulder.

It was warm again, but unlike the summer heat, this was a bearable warmth—a _desired_ warmth. Close to Sebastian and the protective strength of his firm body, Ciel drifted into steady sleep, his light sighs stirring the black fabric of Sebastian's sleeve.

Satisfied that Ciel was asleep, Sebastian raised his arm and pulled Ciel closer to rest his weary cheek upon his chest instead. He wrapped his arm around the boy and let his fingers lightly touch that soft slate hair, smoothing it down into something neat and presentable. Sebastian smiled to himself.

He leaned down and impulsively kissed the top of Ciel's head, lips lingering in the heat trapped in those velvety strands. The warmed scent of fresh shampoo danced in his nostrils, fragrant and clean, an alluring pheromone-laden bliss. Ciel was fast asleep and would never know, and that was enough for Sebastian. He settled his head back into the downy pillow and rested his fingertips upon Ciel's cheek, soft as a sweet kitten's paw.

"Good night, Ciel."

The demon closed his eyes, and for the first night in many months, fell asleep.


End file.
